cg3russia - HIstorical and Political Traditions

The Russian Federation's Historical and Political Traditions (KR)
1. Absolute, Centralized Rule

From the very beginning, geographical location caused Russia's leaders to protect it with brutality and force. After the Huns, Vikings, and Mongols tried to invade and conquer Russia, the leaders became convinced that only firm, unchalleged rule would keep the nation away from chaos. The Romanov line emerged from a "Time of Troubles" when the Russian nobility fought for power and almost brought the kingdom to an end. Even after the Bolsheviks shot the last Romanov, Nicholas II, the Communist regime that followed was also characterized by centralized power.

For most of the 20th century, public authority and political power emanated from one place: the Politburo of the Communist Party. The Politburo was a small group of men who climbed the ranks of the party through nomenklatura, an ordered path from local party soviets to the "commanding heights" of leadership. When the Soviet Union dissolved, its authority and power vanished with it, leaving in place a new government structure with questionable legitimacy. Still, the political culture and historical traditions of Russia are firmly entrenched and have shaped the genesis of the new regime, and undoubtedly will determine the nature of its future. (phs.prs.k12.nj.us/ewood/Russia/sources.htm)

2. Extensive Cultural Heterogeneity

Until the 17th century Russia was a relatively small inland culture, but even then, the numerous invasions from earlier times meant that the area was home to people of wide cultural diversity. This cultural heterogeneity was intensified as Russia rapidly expanded her borders, until by the end of the 19th century, the empire stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Since then, the borders of Russia have been in an almost constant state of change, so that ethnicities have been split, thrown together with others, and then split apart again. The name "Russian Federation" reflects the diversity, with countless "republics" and "autonomous regions" based on ethnicity, but with borders impossible to draw because of the blend and locations of people. This heterogeneity has always been a special challenge to Russian rulers.

Russia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, with over 160 nationalities living in the country. According to the 2002 census, Russians make up 80% of the total population, while six other nationalities have a population exceeding 1 million - Tatars (3.8%), Ukranians (2%), Bashkir (1.1%), Chucash (1.1%), Chechens (0.9%), and Armenians (0.8%). The Chechens are an especially notable ethnic minority that lives in Russia's Caucasus region due to the recent uprise in violence in the region. For the past two hundred years, they have generally been governed by Moscow, though they have had varying degrees of de facto autonomy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Chechen separatists launched a coordinated campaign for independence, which resulted in two devastating wars and an ongoing insurgency in the Chechen region. On September 1, 2004, a group of armed Chechen militants took more than 1,100 people hostage at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. The hostage taking was carried out by the "Battalion of Chechen Martyrs" led by the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who issued demand of the end to the Second Chechen War and withdrawal of the Russian military forces from Chechnya. Over the three days of the siege, 385 people were killed, 186 of them being children. (http://www.cfr.org/publication/9181/)

3. Slavophile v. Westernizer

American diplomat George Kennan identified this conflicting set of political traditions as a major source of problems for Russia during the mid-20th century. The slavophile ("lover of slavs") tradition has led to a pride in Slavic customs, language, religion, and history that causes Russia to resist outside influence. This tendency to value isolation was challenged first by Tsar Peter the Great in the late 17th century. Peter greatly admired Western European nations, and he longed to lift Russia from the "backwardness" of its Slavic roots. He used the western model to "modernize" Russia with a stronger army, a navy, an infrastructure of roads and communication, a reorganized bureaucracy, and a "Window on the West." The window was St. Petersburg, a city built by Peter on newly conquered lands on the Baltic Sea. His efforts to build Russia's power were followed by those of Catherine the Great of the late 18th century, so that by the time of her death, Russia was seen as a major empire. However, their efforts set in place a conflict, since the affection for Slavic ways did not disappear with the changes.

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Peter the Great

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Tsar Peter the Great introduced western technology and culture in an attempt to increase Russia's power and influence. He became the first tsar to travel to Germany, Holland, and England. From there, he brought engineers, carpenters, and architects to Russia and set the country on a course toward world power. In his quest to Westernize Russia, however, he upset a lot of the present royalty who enjoyed their statuses and power. He also put a lot more pressure on the serfs in order to get all the new buildings and systems installed. Catherine the Great, who originally came from Germany, ruled Russia during the late 18th century, and managed to gain warm water access to the Black Sea, an accomplishment that had eluded Peter. She also payed attention to the serfs, which Peter had failed to do, and greatly improved their conditions. Both, Peter and Catherine, looked to the West to help develop their country, but neither abandoned absolute rule. (phs.prs.k12.nj.us/ewood/Russia/sources.htm)

Catherine the Great

4. Revolutions of the 20th Century

The long, autocratic rule of the tsars suddenly and decisively came to an end in 1917 when Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power. Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed, and Lenin's new country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Communist leaders replaced the tsars, and they ruled according to socialist principles, although the tendency toward absolute, centralized rule did not change. The old social classes, however, were swept away, and the new regime tried to blend elements of westernization (industrialization, economic development, and technological innovation) with those of the slavophile (nationalism, resistance to Western culture and customs). A second revolution occurred in 1991, when the USSR dissolved, and its fifteen republics became independent nations. The Russian Federation, born in that year, is currently struggling to replace the old regime with a new one.

Although the Bolsheviks enjoyed substantial support in St. Petersburg and Moscow, they were by no means in control of the country as a whole. They succeeded in taking Russia out of the war (though on very unfavorable terms), but within months civil war broke out throughout Russia. For the next three years the country was devastated by civil strife, until by 1920 the Bolsheviks had finally emerged victorious. Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by an extended and extremely divisive struggle for power in the Communist Party. By the latter part of the decade, Joseph Stalin had emerged as the victor, and he immediately set the country on a much different course. Agricultural lands were collectivized, creating large, state-run farms. Industrial development was pushed along at breakneck speed, and production was almost entirely diverted from consumer products to capital equipment. Art and literature were placed under much tighter control, and the radical energy of the Russian Avant-Garde was replaced by the solemn grandeur of Soviet realism. Religion was violently repressed, as churches were closed, destroyed, or converted to other uses. This oppression became the root of the 20th century revolutions. (www.geographia.com/russia/rushis06.htm)